Flames hope to recover

Flames captain Limbikani Mzava says they have put behind their loss to Cameroon in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier and shifted focus to tomorrow’s showdown against Mozambique’s Mambas.

 Malawi lost 2-0 to the Indomitable Lions in Yaounde and host the Mambas at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Said Mzava: “There were lessons learnt from Friday’s loss, we could have done better.

“But now we have picked ourselves up and we are geared to do well on Tuesday.”

He said as captain, he is trying to lift his troops’ spirits after the loss to Cameroon.

The Flames arrived in Johannesburg yesterday morning, and according to Football Association of Malawi competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka, they were supposed to have their first training session yesterday afternoon at Bidvest Wits ground.

“Their next training session will be at the match venue on Tuesday afternoon,” he said.

Flames coach Meck Mwase also said they have switched their attention to tomorrow’s match.

“We are hoping that things will change against Mozambique and win the match,” he said.

Commenting on the Cameroon match, the Flames gaffer said: “We did not play as we had planned and we conceded very early and when you concede early you get disorganised.

“We gave them [Cameroon] too much respect. It was only in the second half that we were organised. We played against a team with very intelligent and clever players. But we played well despite conceding silly goals.”

Vincent Aboubakar and Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui were on target for Cameroon.